Many home owners want to add a Flue Damper to their flue pipe for their wood stove. Most modern wood stoves have their own are regulated air control on the stove. The wood stoves manual will provide instructions on usage. EPA does not allow restricting flow.
On todays typical install, a damper is not needed. The stoves are designed to be stingy with the outgoing heat to begin with - the very reason/use of the key damper. It does no harm to have it in its wide open position. Just a bigger pain when it comes time to sweep.
To build a fireplace without a damper is never a good idea, but I have done it for certain applications outdoors, and all there is to that is you need an angle iron or 2 to replace the damper to hold the masonry above the firebox to create the smoke chamber.
If it was designed to work with the baffle, you should have one in there. Not having one will almost certainly result in more smoke and creosote buildup, probably lower efficiency, meaning less heat per load of wood, and MIGHT lead to damaging the stove.
Adequate Air Supply: Adjust the stove's air vents and consider slightly opening a window in the same room when starting the fire to introduce fresh air and help balance the pressure. Regular Chimney Maintenance: Ensure your chimney is clean and free from obstructions.
As we've mentioned above, a stove fan can increase the efficiency of your stove and because it circulates heat for your fire you're less likely to experience cold spots in the room.
If you still experience a down draft when your fireplace is in use, turn off your exhaust fans. They naturally increase negative pressure by pulling air out of the house, which can cause a down draft. If your damper is warped, you might need to adjust it slightly to get the right airflow.
Baffle Plate
It does this by retaining waste gases from the combustion of wood inside the stove to increase the temperature. Since it is right above the fire, it may crack or warp over time. In optimal conditions, you will need to replace this part every five to ten years, depending on the frequency of use.
Health Effects Caused by Wood Smoke
The smoke from wood-burning devices, such as stoves and heaters, contains fine particle pollution, and hazardous air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides benzene and formaldehyde.
Chimneys should be lined. The National Fire Code states that a liner can be built of brick, clay or steel. Most homes built in the past 50 years have a clay liner for a wood-burning appliance.
Chimney dampers are necessary for several reasons: Dampers help to control the efficiency and intensity of a fire. By partially closing the damper, you can restrict airflow, reducing the size of the flame. An open damper ensures that smoke and gases from the fire are properly vented from your home.
The damper and flue are two different parts, but they are related and involved in the same function. The flue is the inside tunnel of your chimney that brings gases from your fireplace out of your home, while the damper closes or opens the access to the flue.
What you may not already know is your stove has a damper whose job it is to control the amount of air you're letting in to feed the fire. Depending on how far open or shut you have the damper, your fire will be smaller and cooler (and burn for longer), or larger and hotter (and burn more quickly).
And while older wood-burning fireplaces can function safely without a damper (gas fireplaces cannot), a chimney without a damper is just a gaping hole in the roof of your house. It's a gateway for frigid air to enter and for heated air to escape in the winter.
When a wood stove is burning correctly, little to no smoke will enter your home when you open the door. However, if the unit is filled with cold air or if the stove is not working correctly, it may push smoke back into the home.
Doubtless a modern well maintained stove causes less indoor air pollution than older models, and both, less than an open fire. The risk with a new stove, burning only very dry wood, may therefore be presumed to be significantly less than identified here.
1 A small, preliminary study suggests air purifiers equipped with high-efficiency particle air (HEPA) filters can lower the amount of indoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and smoke from woodstoves, potentially reducing residents' risk of cardiovascular disease from exposure to these air pollutants.
Today's wood stove models feature improved safety and efficiency--they produce almost no smoke, minimal ash, and require less firewood.
It is highly inadvisable to use a fire without a baffle in place. It can cause irreparable damage. The cost of replacing a baffle is much lower than replacing a whole wood heater. There is also increased risk of a flue fire as intense heat and flame direct from the fire can ignite built up creosote in the flue.
The extra smoke, due to the stove's poor combustion, can negatively impact the air quality in your home and outside. Even an EPA-certified wood stove can become less efficient over time. The average lifespan of a wood-burning stove is 10 to 20 years.
The surest way to overcome the stack effect is to provide a directly ducted source of outside air to the combustion air inlet of the appliance. This isolates the combustion and venting systems from the rest of the house.
One of the most frequent issues that people experience with their chimneys is a downdraught. Downdraughts are generally caused by negative air pressure, which can be caused by all sorts of things, from a chimney stack that's too short to overhanging trees and more.
All stoves in homes built after 2008 require either an air vent or external air intake, regardless of heat output. Without it, the stove may struggle to draw sufficient air for clean, efficient burning. Even in older homes, a stove can benefit from an external air kit.